West Mercia Police 'must improve' custody services

A report says West Mercia Police is not providing good custody services and its care of detainees is poor.

A HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services report has raised serious areas of concern around legal rights, safety and welfare in West Mercia Police custody.

The report highlighted areas such as:

The force not having enough oversight over how custody is provided, with no clear direction over how custody and detention officers carry out their roles and responsibilities.

This can lead to staff carrying out tasks they are not responsible for, or best suited to.

It also found the West Mercia is not always meeting the requirements regarding the detention, treatment and questioning of persons, particularly in terms of providing detainees with information about their rights and entitlements.

Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary Wendy Williams said: "Anyone detained in custody should be treated fairly and kept safe from harm.

"West Mercia Police has a clear governance structure for the safe and respectful provision of custody services. However, these arrangements are not resulting in good custody services. Our inspection identified some critical weaknesses in how custody is provided to make sure detainees are kept safe and treated and cared for well.

"Some of the recommendations from our last inspection in 2014 have not been achieved or have only partly been achieved, leaving some important areas of custody requiring urgent attention – including management oversight of custody, governance and oversight of the use of force, risk management and detainee care. These are now causes of concern.

"More positively, the force responded quickly to our feedback during the inspection, taking action in several areas. This gives us confidence that custody services, and outcomes for detainees, will now improve.”

Assistant Chief Constable Richard Cooper said: "It’s important that our custody provision is independently scrutinised and we welcome and accept the findings of HMICFRS’ inspection, and their acknowledgement that we were quick to respond to feedback.

"We know there are still improvements we need to make and have already put in place an urgent action plan to address the critical weaknesses identified by the report. We are committed to ensuring detainees are kept safe and cared for while in our custody; it is crucial we improve those areas of custody which are causes of concern.

"Since the inspection our Custody Managers have been working with HMICFRS to improve our internal audit and inspection process and we are currently developing an extensive training package that will be delivered to all of our custody staff in the coming months.

"Prior to the inspection, funding had been secured from our Police and Crime Commissioner to update our CCTV and custody infrastructure systems, such as fire alarm systems and cell intercoms.

"We welcome HMICFRS’ confidence that our custody services will improve and are committed to delivering significant improvements over the next 12 months."

Commissioner John Campion said “West Mercia Police have a duty to those in their care, and the findings of this report are not good enough. These are issues that the force and I, are already aware of. I am reassured by the action that is already being taken.

The report highlighted that a clear structure is in place and highlighted some good practice. The force must build on this, and their swift response gives me hope that they will deliver.

My Independent Custody Scheme provides important continued scrutiny and I will continue, to formally hold the force to account to ensure those being detained can trust that they will be safe and cared for appropriately.”